Kinski Down Below It's Chaos CD

Kinski: Mathew Reid-Schwartz (flute); Chris Martin .
Personnel: Chris Martin (vocals, guitar); Matthew Reid Schwartz (guitar, flute, keyboards); Mike Dilon (vibraphone); Barrett Wilke (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Joe Doria (organ); Mike Dillon (unknown instrument).
Audio Mixers: Randall Dunn; Mell Dettmer.
Recording information: Aleph.
Photographers: David Belisle; Katie Martin; Ryan Chananovich.
Onstage and over the course of several previous albums, Seattle thunder purveyors Kinski honed the art of staring Mount St. Helens in the mouth and spelunking for the explosive rock powers within--an experience that for the listener worked much more in the former setting than in the latter. On DOWN BELOW IT'S CHAOS the quartet keep that live power intact, but display a deeper understanding of translating the intensity to record. The results make for what is by far their best record and a classic of heavy millennial neo-Kraut.
The eight songs offer newfound pleasures for Kinski fans: pop hooks, dynamics, and, perhaps most shockingly, vocals (see "Dayroom at Narita Int'l" and "Punching Goodbye Out Front"), while gentle interludes such as "Boy, Was I Mad" and "Plan, Steal, Drive" offer welcome quiet oases from the throbbing energy. Randall Dunn--Earth, Sunn O))), Boris--brings his adept hand to the production.
Kinski's relentless drive to the next level -- via being louder than everything on the planet on the one hand, and on the other having a rigorous structure to their efforts that practically compels listeners -- takes an interesting turn on Down Below It's Chaos for a variety of reasons. First, having always sounded very futuristic just by being clean and hot-wired, the album is as close to a tribute to early-'70s fuzz worshipers as the quartet's yet made since its very earliest days -- Chris Martin's initial guitar invocation on "Crybaby Blowout" just needed a leather-clad greasy biker to go with it and all of a sudden it's Death Valley 1970. (Not for nothing is the album's final song called "Silent Biker Type.") The feeling is maintained throughout the album, with the help of production guru Randall Dunn, and while it's a bit surprising on first blush it's also no surprise that Kinski rock it out brilliantly, with tight stop-start moments showing their precise eye for dynamics remains key, as songs like "...Boy, Was I Mad!" and "Child Had to Catch a Train" -- which even adds in a note-perfect garagey keyboard part -- show. The second twist is actually even more surprising in context: Martin sings! On three songs his rather Thurston Moore-ish vocals take a bow, and if the comparisons to Daydream Nation-era Sonic Youth are a touch too easy to make at points, it all still sounds enjoyable enough. Meanwhile, for all the overdrive the side of Kinski that appreciates a good ambient meander has hardly disappeared either -- "Passwords & Alcohol" is a semi-shoegaze amble towards its start while the evolving flow of "Plan, Steal, Drive" makes for gently cascading zone grace, a chance to appreciate a rising sun before hitting the highway once more at full speed. ~ Ned RaggettQ (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he instrumental likes of 'Boy, Was I Mad!' sound like a more urgent Mogwai armed with fuzzed-up guitars."
Alternative Press (p.168) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Sporting shrieking feedback and grooves so deep one could rationally fear getting stuck in them, DOWN BELOW IT'S CHAOS is heavier than 95 percent of today's metalcore releases without even trying to be."